PI3k/Akt signaling pathway and anaplastic thyroid cancer: a microarray-based studyAbstract

Anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC) is an undifferentiated form of thyroid cancer that is highly lethal. The aim of the current study was to search the microarray libraries available in the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) and analyze the function of the extracted genes to predict their role in the pathogenesis of ATC.

The data in the GSE33630 dataset were first analyzed by GEO2R and then by R software version 4.2.0. Normalization of data and extraction of genes with significant expression differences (DEGs) were performed and performance analysis was performed by Enrichr and DAVID 6.8.

The analyzes showed that 1705 genes with log2FC>1 had increased expression and 2740 genes with log2FC<-1 had decreased expression. Also, the PI3k/Akt signaling pathway and the transcription factors IRF8, TCF4, CBEPB and JUND are related to the increased expressed genes.

Increased activity of PI3k-Akt signaling pathway as well as transcription factors IRF8, TCF4, CBEPB and JUND in thyroid cells probably leads to the development or progression of ATC cancer.